Mac Pro -> MBP Retina, want some storage advice

My current Mac Pro is a beast, but my storage setup is dreamy. I want to move over to a MBP and replicate my current setup as closely as possible with as few boxes as possible.

Mac Pro:Internal SSD for SystemInternal 2TB HD for home folder docs/storage -> ~500gb usedInternal 2TB HD for Time Machine -> full, fantastic for instant file versioningExternal 2TB HD for Carbon Copy Cloner duplication -> frequency of backups depend on how often I do freelance work

I'm kind of debating how much I need for the MBP. I'm thinking I have a few possibilities:

1) Cheap but potentially slowPut everything except my Movies + Music on the MBPGet a Time Capsule and use that for Time MachinePlug a cheap external HD into the Time Capsule and use that for storing my Movies + MusicUse another external HD for Carbon Copy Cloner backup

2) Pro as hellPut everything except my Movies + Music on the MBPGet a Promise 4TB Thunderbolt RAID, partition it into 2, and run 1 for file storage and 1 for Time MachineGet a Time Capsule and use that for Time MachineUse another external HD for Carbon Copy Cloner backup

I figure option 1 is about $1k cheaper, the only issue will be potentially slow backups and restores since the Time Capsule will be either wireless (worst case) or Ethernet (best).

It's too bad that you can't back up over the network to a USB drive but then restore directly over USB if necessary.

There is no reason to have a separate USB drive for your music etc, as long as there's room you can put that on the same Time Capsule that you use for backups. There are also ways to split iTunes content over multiple drives so you still have some of it when you're away from your home network.

I wouldn't use an expensive external RAID setup for Time Machine, and probably not for media either. The extra speed doesn't really help you under normal circumstances, as TM doesn't run very fast. Your initial backup will be faster, but you'll probably still end up doing it overnight. Only when you have to do a restore you'll really benefit.

Apart from that, having backups happen automatically when you're at home (or the office), even at night when the computer is sleeping, is much more useful than having to plug in external storage.

For playing back media you also don't need much speed.

My suggestion: get both a Time Capsule and a USB 3 HDD and back up to both. The TC will probably have more recent backups but the USB 3 drive will be faster to restore from. Or actually get two of those, so you can leave one at the office or something. Swap between the two every two weeks or so and you'll have a backup if your house burns down. Don't forget to encrypt your backups.

You also didn't say how much of your current internal storage is performance-sensitive, or needs to be portable (from my PoV, if I need to carry along a portable HD to have my music & photos with me, that kinds of negates the value of a laptop).

For $3000, you can buy the $2200 non-retina MBP (identical CPU / memory / vid card) + 2x 512GB Crucial M4 SSDs, which are now running just under $400 each, one replacing the stock HD and one the optical, and run them in a really fast SW RAID0 config.You get 1TB (vs. 768GB) of much quicker internal storage, and save $300.

As a bonus, you have a left-over 750GB spinner you can stick in a cheap USB enclosure for extra external storage, and an optical drive ditto (plus built-in FireWire & Ethernet, if you need them).

If you were thinking of maxing the RAM, you'd save another $120 buying 16GB of reputable 3d-party RAM rather than paying Apple an addition $200 to upgrade the 8GB to 16GB.

If you were thinking of the 2.3GHz rMBP, the difference is even bigger: $3200 vs. $2650.

The other, even cheaper option is to get the non-retina with a 750GB 7200 RPM drive, and replace the optical drive with a 128GB SSD. Then you can either do home-grown Fusion, or just use the 750GB as a data drive (movies, music, photos, etc). This was my original plan for my upcoming MBP, but I've decided instead to use a NAS for more storage, and just replace the drive with a 256GB SSD (of course, I could always replace the optical drive later anyway). As others have said, if you do get the non-retina, ugprade the RAM yourself and save a bunch of money. I like OWC for RAM/SSD/HDD upgrades, but I'm sure there's other places.

One other point about the retina vs non-retina: you can get the non-retina with a higher-res matte screen. Depending on where and how you work, this may be very important to you. Your local Apple store should have an example of the 15" non-retina with the matte screen to take a look at, and it's worth comparing the glossy and matte to see if you think it matters.

I appreciate the spirit of the advice, but the Retina MBP is a requirement. I'm an experience designer that's doing iOS work and needs a retina display to keep my visual design validated. Solutions that simultaneously display on iPads aren't portable enough and have proven a bit buggy, and besides I'd have to buy a retina iPad which I don't have at the moment anyway. And, I have an NEC 27" calibrated matte high gamut hooded display at my desk that I plug into for color critical work.

So, the real problem, I'm interested in storage that allows me to:

1) Have redundant Time Machine always running on all my files2) Have redundant detachable backup of all my files3) Stream my media to an AppleTV without needing the MBP tethered to a desk

iljitsch, the problem with using Time Capsule with the media on it is if the one drive dies, the files AND the Time Machine backup are toast in one shot. I want three sets - the files, Time Machine, detachable backup - on three sets of hardware.

I was hoping to to cheap, as USB3 or SATA should be fast enough throughput for me.

I went to the Apple store, and the geniuses said a HD attached to the Time Capsule should stream fine, but the MBP will still have to 'drive' it, I can't just turn on the AppleTV and stream directly from the Time Capsule. I came back and did research, and it looks like USB2 is plenty of bandwidth to stream 720p. So, I should be able to use the cheaper option.

The only thing I think I could improve upon at this point is just buying a dedicated NAS for all my media. I use iTunes Match, which is fine for my iPhone and iPad. I rarely watch movies on the road, and if I do, I can just copy to the iPad or MBP. I'm not sure which ones are as friendly as Apple stuff. Any tips on a NAS would be fantastic.

I don't know about Time Capsule, but my 4th generation Airport Extreme (the current generation is 5) won't do more than 20 MB/s towards an attached USB 2 drive. So you certainly don't need a super fast drive in such a configuration. On the other hand, the extra speed you get from USB 3 won't hurt if you hook up the drive to your MBP at some point.

You would really benefit from a second machine that you can dedicate to your iTunes hosting needs. You may want to see if you can get one for cheap. Although it's fairly ridiculous that this is needed, why can't the Apple TV just get its stuff directly from a Time Capsule?

I think you can also stream stuff you bought from Apple directly over the internet, but not so much for stuff you ripped yourself. (And of course there's no iTunes Match for video content.)